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SPORTS Wednesday, June 22, 2016 East Oregonian Page 3B College World Series Texas Tech hangs on, knocks out top seed Florida Texas Tech’s Eric Gutierrez hits a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s NCAA College World Series game in Omaha, Neb. TCU advances with win over Coastal Carolina By ERIC OLSON Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. — When Florida’s Peter Alonso homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull the Gators within a run of Texas Tech, a thought crossed Red Raiders coach Tim Tadlock’s mind. “Where is Goose Gossage when you need him? Rollie Fingers, somebody?” Tadlock said, smiling. No worries. Reliever Hayden Howard, backed by one of the nation’s best defenses, got the job done, and Texas Tech stayed alive in the College World Series with a 3-2 victory over the No. 1 national seed Tuesday. For the Gators (52-16), it was a devastating and surprising ending to the season. They were heavy favorites to win their program’s irst national cham- pionship, and they scored just three runs in 18 innings here. “To look at two games we’ve lost, 2-1 and 3-2, and look at those guys in the locker room and think, ‘Boy, the season’s been a failure.’ If getting to Omaha’s a failure, then — I don’t look at it that way,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Of course we’re disappointed, of course we want to stay here longer. AP Photo/Nati Harnik AP Photo/Nati Harnik Coastal Carolina’s Anthony Marks (29) is tagged out at second by TCU shortstop Ryan Merrill on an attempted stolen base during the irst inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. But there are eight teams out of over 300 to get here. We’ve been here ive out of the last seven, and we’ll be here again soon.” Eric Gutierrez hit a two-run homer off Alex Faedo (13-3) in the fourth inning and Texas Tech (47-19) picked up a huge insurance run by way of two errors on the same play in the ninth while winning for the irst time in four all-time CWS games. The relief was palpable. On Saturday the Raiders lost 5-3 to TCU after leading by a run in the ninth. In 2014, they led TCU 2-1 in the eighth and lost 3-2 and were tied 1-1 in the ninth against Mississippi and lost 2-1. “It’s not as easy here to get those last three outs,” Tadlock said. Howard, who relieved Davis Martin (10-1) to start the eighth, got a pop out after Alonso’s homer, and the game ended when Jonathan India tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by left ielder Tyler Neslony. “The hustle play by Jon there at the end, I would say that’s what you need to do, 100 out of 100 times,” O’Sullivan said. “The left ielder just made a hell of a throw, and it was a perfect throw. That’s kind of maybe it’s a itting way to end our season. It was a hustle play and it was an all-out play, and he tried to do everything he could to get to second base to get to scoring position to tie the ball game.” In a CWS where runs have been at a premium, Texas Tech’s biggest came on botched inield play by the Gators in the top of the ninth. Neslony scored from irst after third baseman India threw in the dirt trying to get Gutierrez at irst. Alonso, the irst baseman, bounced a throw past third trying to get Neslony, allowing him to go home. TCU 6, COASTAL CAROLINA 1 — At Omaha, Neb., TCU freshman star Luken Baker continued his hot hitting, going 3 for 3 with a home run, and the Horned Frogs took control of their College World Series bracket with a 6-1 victory over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night. The Frogs (49-16) have won their irst two CWS games for the irst time in four appearances and move to Friday’s Bracket 2 inal. They’ll play the winner of a Thursday elimination game between Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech. A win in that game would put them in the best-of-three inals for the irst time. The Chanticleers (50-17), who beat No. 1 national seed Florida 2-1 in their irst-ever CWS game on Sunday, pushed across a run in the sixth inning but otherwise didn’t do much against Brian Howard and Ryan Burnett. Baker, who hit the winning three-run homer against Texas Tech Sunday, went deep to right in the second inning and singled in his other two at bats. The Big 12 freshman of the year has hit seven of his 11 homers in the last 13 games and is 29 of 52 (.558) over that stretch. TCU scored two unearned runs in the ifth following third baseman Zach Remi- llard’s throwing error, and a run came home in the sixth on Dane Steinhagen’s double- play ball. Michael Landestoy tripled in a run and scored on an error to make it a ive-run game in the ninth. Howard (10-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win. The 17th-round pick of the Houston Astros allowed a run on six hits and a walk, and he struck out seven. Coastal Carolina starter Alex Cunningham (9-4) lasted 4 1/3 innings. He gave up three runs, one earned, on four hits and two walks. The Chanticleers came in with a nation-leading 94 home runs but have not hit one through two CWS games. Olympics Olympic leaders call for drug-testing of Russians, Kenyans By STEPHEN WILSON Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzer- land — Olympic leaders called for drug-testing of individual Russian and Kenyan athletes across all sports, warning Tuesday that evidence of inadequate doping controls in those countries could lead to more teams being barred from the Rio de Janeiro Games. At the same time, the international sports oficials also opened the door to some Russian track and ield athletes competing under their own lag — not as neutral athletes — in Rio. IOC President Thomas Bach convened a special Olympic summit to follow up on the IAAF’s decision to maintain its ban on Russia’s track team for the games and to take additional steps to ensure a “level playing ield” for all athletes in all sports in Rio. The meeting came four days after the IAAF, track and ield’s world governing body, upheld its ban — irst imposed in November — on Russian athletes for a “systematic and deep- ly-rooted culture of doping.” The summit reiterated that it fully respects the IAAF decision, which Russian oficials have condemned as unfair to “innocent athletes.” The Russians conirmed Tuesday they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “We consider it unfair on the vast majority of our athletes who have never doped and have not violated any criteria,” Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov told the meeting. “They will be punished for the sins of others.” While backing the IAAF decision, the summit also expanded the scope of the doping investigations to deal with all sports in Russia and Kenya, two countries deemed non-compliant with rules of the World Anti- Doping Agency. The summit, which also cited “substantial allegations” against those countries, put the onus on each international sports federation to make sure their athletes are clean ahead of the Rio Games, which open on Aug. 5. “The Olympic summit considers the ‘presumption of innocence’ of athletes from these countries being put seriously into question,” the leaders said in a state- ment. “As a result, every IF should take a decision on the eligibility of such athletes on an individual basis to ensure a level playing ield in their sport.” Bach said the federations need to take into account whether the tests were analyzed at tainted labs or fail to meet to meet other international standards. “They have to be satisied the status of the individual athlete puts them on a level playing ield with all the international competitors in their sport,” he said. Kenya — home to many of the world’s top distance runners — has been hit by dozens of positive drug cases in recent years and has struggled to set up a credible Internation- al Olympic Committee, IOC, Presi- dent Thomas Bach, from Germany, speaks during a press con- ference after the Olympic Summit IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Laurent Gillieron/Key- stone via AP anti-doping system. IAAF oficials, however, have said Kenya should not be in danger of missing the games because its athletes have been subjected to extensive international testing. While upholding its ban on Russia last week, the IAAF had opened the door to a small group of Russian athletes who live and undergo rigorous drug-testing outside the country to apply to compete as “neutral” athletes in Rio. The IAAF has said that would apply to only a handful of athletes. The IOC, however, said that if any Russians are deemed eligible by the IAAF they would be in line to compete under the Russian lag. “If there are athletes qual- iied, then they will compete as members of the team of the Russian Olympic Committee because only a national Olympic committee can enter athletes to the Olympic Games,” Bach said. “There are no teams of international federations there. And the Russian Olympic Committee is not suspended.” The leaders said in their statement that the IAAF report acknowledged “the enormous efforts and profes- sionalism” of the Russian Olympic Committee, as opposed to the national track federation. The summit did not undermine the IAAF ban on Russia as a whole. The team — including two-time pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva — remains barred from the games. No decision was taken on the possible participation at the games by Russian whis- tleblower Yulia Stepanova. The 800-meter runner, who served a two-year ban for blood doping before helping to expose cheating in Russia, was given IAAF dispensation to apply to compete as an independent athlete for her “extraordinary contribution to the ight against doping.” “There was no discussion about this,” Bach said. “We understand that the IAAF has to take its decision so anything I would say here would be mere speculation.” It’s unlikely the IOC would allow an admitted doper to compete under the Olympic lag, so another solution would have to be found. Bach acknowledged that the Russians were taking their case against the ban to CAS, the highest court in sports. “This is the good right of everybody,” he said. “So we are expecting the results of these potential court cases.” The doping crisis extends beyond Russia’s track and ield athletes and beyond Russia itself. WADA President Craig Reedie said Monday that the agency has started investigating allegations of doping by the Russian and Chinese swim- ming teams. Russian athletes — including 16 from track and ield — have provided 22 of the positive samples from the Beijing and London retests. The leaders also called on authorities to pursue sanctions not only against athletes, but against doctors, coaches, oficials and other personnel implicated in doping. Bach also lamented “deiciencies” in the global anti-doping system, which is suffering from a loss of public trust and conidence in the wake of so many scandals. “It has to be more trans- parent,” Bach said. “Every- body has to understand better who is doing what and who is responsible for what and this needs a full review.” The Olympic leaders called on WADA to convene a special world conference on doping next year to ind ways of improving the system. The IOC reiterated its proposal for the creation of an inde- pendent agency to carry out drug-testing worldwide. Still looming heavily over the Russians is an ongoing WADA investigation into allegations made by Moscow’s former drug lab chief, Grigory Rodchenkov, that he was involved in a state-backed conspiracy to dope Russian athletes ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and swap tainted samples for clean ones during the games. WADA’s inal report is due by July 15. If it uncovers further widespread, state- backed cheating in Russia, it could push for further action against Russia. Hockey NHL schedule for 2016-17 condensed for World Cup, bye weeks Associated Press The 2016-17 NHL schedule is jam-packed, thanks to a late start because of the World Cup and a bye week for each team. Back-to-backs and stretches of three games in four days are more common than ever because of the condensed schedule. The season runs from Wednesday, Oct. 12, to Sunday, April 9, which at 180 days is almost a week shorter than 2015-16. The Stanley Cup cham- pion Pittsburgh Penguins and Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks each have 15 back-to- back sets. Pittsburgh also plays four games in seven days around the three-day Christmas break. Players on 29 of 30 teams will have at least ive full days off from games and practices sometime in January or February. The Anaheim Ducks are off from Feb. 28-March 3. The Players’ Association negotiated the bye week as part of its agreement to allow the All-Star Game to become a 3-on-3 tour- nament. Players who don’t attend typically go away for the All-Star break, but the bye week allows everyone some time off during the season. Teams having back-to- back sets at home have been extremely rare in past seasons, but are part of the next season’s schedule because of time constraints. Here are ive notable items of the 2016-17 NHL schedule: CROSBY VS. MCDAVID: Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin meet again Oct. 13 for Cup banner night. If Crosby and Connor McDavid are healthy, the two generational stars drafted 10 years apart will play against each other for the irst time Nov. 8 at Consol Energy Center when the Penguins host the Edmonton Oilers. TAKE IT OUTSIDE: There are four outdoor games on the schedule, taking place in Winnipeg, Toronto, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The Jets host the Oilers in the Heritage Classic Oct. 23, the Maple Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings in the Centennial Classic Jan 1, the Blues host the Chicago Black- hawks in the Winter Classic Jan. 2 and the Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stadium Series Feb. 25. ALL-STAR GAME GOES HOLLYWOOD: All-Star weekend takes place in Los Angeles for the third time when the Kings host the skills competition and game on Jan. 28-29 at Staples Center. The next John Scott awaits. TRADE DEADLINE: The trade deadline is Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. EDT, 40 days from the end of the regular season. It’s the last chance for teams to make moves for the playoff run and also an opportunity to shed players before the expected expan- sion draft. SO LONG, JOE: Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena houses its inal regu- lar-season game April 9 when the Red Wings face the New Jersey Devils. If the Red Wings extend their streak of playoff appear- ances to 25 seasons, it won’t be the inal NHL game there. Salary Cap Set NEW YORK (AP) — The salary cap for the 2016-17 NHL season will be $73 million, up from $71.4 million. The league and NHL Players’ Association announced the cap number Tuesday night. The cap loor, or the minimum amount a team can spend, is $54 million. It was $52.8 million last season. Players elected to use their 5 percent escalator clause to help increase the salary cap $1.6 million. The Canadian dollar was one reason why league revenues sagged, preventing a larger cap increase. The draft begins Friday in Buffalo, New York. Free agency opens July 1 at noon, though teams can talk to players beginning Saturday. General managers have said they’re waiting on the cap number to make decisions with their own potential free agents.
